Board of Directors
Meet our wonderful Board of Directors!Heather Ames
President
Director of Human Resources, Senior Vice President and Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Montecito Bank & Trust
Born in Santa Barbara, she enjoys giving back to her community by volunteering for many local organizations. She has served on the Board of Santa Barbara Girls and Boys Club, local school site councils and has supported many non-profit organizations including United Way, NatureTrak, Old Yeller Rescue Ranch and Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society.
Heather with her husband Rich and their four children currently reside in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley where they both grew up and graduated from Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. Her passions include spending time outdoors, family time and volunteering in her community.
Martin Lynch
Vice President
CFO, Smart & Final (retired)
Born and raised in Chicago, Marty earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from De Paul University. His career moved him from Chicago to Los Angeles, then Honolulu and San Francisco before reaching Santa Barbara in 1989. Marty met his wife Deborah in Santa Barbara, a city they both love. They share and cherish six children and eight grandchildren. In addition to serving as staff for their two cats the Lynch’s enjoy travel, golf, hiking and reading.
Andrew Dowen
Treasurer
CFO, AGIA Affinity
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In addition to his role as Chief Financial Officer Andrew is responsible for the administration and marketing of UST, a 2,200 member grantor trust providing unemployment and workforce management services to the non-profit world. Andrew is a graduate of Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining the board of CASA Andrew served as Treasurer and Board President at Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center.
Jim Burge
Governance Chair
Vice President, Strategic Planning, Smart & Final, Director of Corporate Development, Farmers Brothers Coffee (retired)
Jim and his wife, Julie, have lived in Santa Barbara since 1990. Their two sons, Andrew and David, grew up in Santa Barbara attending public schools. Jim is currently assisting David and his nephew James with their start-up of Pure Order Brewing, a local craft microbrewery.
Tony Papa
Governance Chair
Corporate Advisor and Trustee
Communications, a provider of business telephone and internet services.
Born and raised in New York, Tony and his wife Sabrina moved to Santa Barbara in 1994. They have two adult children, Michael and Lindsay. Tony is a staff commodore of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and chairman of the club’s Long Range Planning and Advisory Committee. He is active in the sailing community and has served as chairman for several yachting charity events.
Tony previously served as the local committee chair for the Adventure Leadership Program (ALP) sponsored by Minnesota-based Wilderness Inquiry. He served as a board member for the Girl Scouts of Tres Condados, during which time he helped the organization reintroduce the Mariners program in Santa Barbara, and as a director for the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation.
Jeff Hearn
Secretary
School Superintendent (retired)
In 1974, Jeff, Linda, and their one-year-old child Nicole moved to Santa Maria, where they have resided since. From 1975-1984, he was a teacher, coach, counselor, athletic director and administrator at St. Joseph High School. In 1984 he accepted a position as Assistant Principal at Santa Maria High School. He remained at SMHS until 2000, spending his last nine years as Principal. In June 2000, he was appointed Superintendent where he served until his retirement in June of 2009.
Over the course of his time in Santa Maria, Jeff has served on a number of boards and been a member of several community groups, including United Way, Fighting Back, SELPA of Santa Barbara County Education, Community Advisory Committee of the Santa Maria City Police Department, California Association of School Administrators, High School Network of California and Meals on Wheels.
Julie Henley
Operating Partner, Entrada Ventures, Consultant
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Veronica Sandoval
Foundation Executive
Sandoval also served as a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County from 2013 until 2015. In 2015 she stepped down when she was appointed to the Child Welfare Safety Net Task Force. As a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor's appointee, Sandoval along with three other Task Force members were responsible for examining the Child Welfare System to ensure that it was performing at its highest level to serve Santa Barbara County foster youth. Sandoval is a former foster turned adoptive parent and rejoined the CASA board in November 2016 to continue the important work of advocating for Santa Barbara County's most vulnerable children.
Lindsay Soleimani
Professional Development
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Lindsay was born and raised in Ojai but has been a part of the Santa Barbara community for the last 20 years – she graduated from UCSB with a major in Global Studies. In 2019 Lindsay completed the Women & Leadership program at Antioch University. In her free time, Lindsay likes to enjoy Santa Barbara with her husband and two young sons.
Virginia Benson Wigle
Director of Education (retired)
Virginia graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a degree in History and Art History. She currently lives in Santa Barbara with her husband John, and daughter, Ella.